Lengthy chase leads to 12 initially, 46 more after interrogations

PHOENIX — Authorities say they found 58 illegal immigrants in a west Phoenix drop house Tuesday following a lengthy police pursuit on a state highway.

Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves says nine suspected illegal immigrants were found in the bed of a truck underneath some plywood after the highway chase, and three more were in the cab of the truck.

Graves says officers developed information from the pursuit and found the drop house, where there were 58 suspected illegal immigrants, including two smugglers and 11 children ages 10 to 17.

The group had been in the house for about a day, and no evidence of violence or extortion was found.

Investigators say most of the immigrants are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, and they paid around $6,000 each to be smuggled into the U.S.

All were taken into custody.

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